From creator, writer, director Charlotte Regan (Scrapper), BBC series Mint is undeniably a modern take on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet: two households, both alike in dignity, in fair Glasgow, where we lay our scene.
Leaning on the Bard’s star-cross’d lovers framework across six short episodes, Regan carves out her own style of crime drama. Boasting an arsenal of cinematography, understated performances, a hint of magical realism, and a hypnotic score, Mint is a surprising, fresh take on a centuries-old story — one that will undoubtedly make its way to U.S. screens.
What is Mint about?
Ben Coyle-Larner and Emma Laird in “Mint.”
Credit: House/Fearless Minds/BBC
The ancient grudge? Two organised crime gangs led by stern patriarch Dylan Evans (an excellent Sam Riley) and reactive young’un Liangelo Denson (Connor Newall), where abdication looms and new mutiny simmers. Our forbidden lovers? Shannon Evans (Emma Laird) and Arran Denson (Ben Coyle-Larner) a pair whose ill-advised love at first sight moment comes in a shower of sparks.
When Shannon’s father decides to step away from the family business, with her brother Luke (Lewis Gribben) steering clear of such inheritance, whispers of unrest reach enemy ears — and Shannon and Arran’s burgeoning romance becomes dangerous territory.
Instead of going granular on the patriarchal business of Dylan’s criminal activity, Mint focuses on the complexity of the women around him: his wife Cat (Laura Fraser), mother Ollie (Lindsay Duncan), and daughter Shannon, all of whom evaluate their own power in the family.
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The Brutalist‘s Emma Laird is both naive and brazen as Shannon, a young woman born into the shadier side of society, surrounded by family who adores her. The crime boss’s daughter, she has a fearlessness, glamour, and ennui that thrives in Laird’s hands (and Elle Wilson’s lush costumes). Duncan’s Ollie is a covert firestarter, carefully keeping her hands clean. Fraser’s Cat struggles with facing the reality of her role in the Evans empire and the true dynamic of their family.
Ben Coyle-Larner in “Mint.”
Credit: House/Fearless Minds/BBC/Sanne Gault
But we’re here for doomed romance and fatalistic passion, right? Ben Coyle-Larner, aka musician Loyle Carner, makes his screen debut as Arran, the one “But Daddy I Love Him” man Shannon’s not allowed to fall in love with. Coyle-Larner and Laird are well-matched, giving understated performances. Instead of dramatically professed love scenes on balconies, it’s deadpan flirtation in garage workshops and literal floating on air across a Glasgow park. It’s real life romanticised through magical realism and dynamic cinematography — and it’s all thanks to a dream team of production talent.
Mint forges its own experimental style
Emma Laird and Ben Coyle-Larner in “Mint.”
Credit: House/Fearless Minds/BBC
For a TV series, Mint feels at times like an experimental film, music video, or piece of contemporary theatre. Director Regan, cinematographer Christopher Sabogal, and production designer Amy Maguire (both of The Buccaneers) produce a six-chapter set of stylised chiaroscuro, extreme angles, home movie footage, and copious amounts of extraordinary slow-motion footage. It’s no surprise all three have worked on music videos, with much of Mint feeling as such — Patrick Jonsson’s mesmerising score and a glut of Charli XCX and Joy Crookes helps.
Stitching together the chaos and the calm, editor Mdhamiri Á Nkemi (who worked on Regan’s triumphant debut, Scrapper), crafts a wild ride. Documentary-style, voyeuristic shots sit beside conventional close-ups, beside sweeping overhead shots and loaded slow zooms. The effect is theatrical and dramatic, rendering violence over-the-top and giving Mint its own visual identity among crime dramas. Social realism this is not.
Regan’s Mint is a short, sharp gem that leans on visual disruption to freshen up a tale as old as time. Here’s hoping it reaches beyond British screens soon.
Mint is now streaming on BBC iPlayer in the UK.
